Social networking has become a phenomena of late which is keyed into the ubiquitous nature of the internet, the low cost and free availability of computers to almost everyone and the multiplicity of types of connections in wide use. Users establish an account and basically have complete access to information posted by others. Attempts have been made to restrict the amount and relevancy of available information in such contexts by limiting access to approved ‘friends’ (Facebook™ ). Social expansion is geared upon simple involvement and a growing list of approved contacts. Undoubtedly such systems achieve the objective of social expansion driven by simple involvement. In some, activity is limited by a sign on process wherein a user must explore individual pages or walls where others post information to be disseminated. The result is a huge accumulation of random social information which may or may not be useful in any context, especially any business context.
One attempt to restrict the free flow of random social information is shown in US pending patent application 2011/0,138,298 to Alfred Joseph, published Jun. 9, 2011, in which a social networking site seeks to prevent unwanted or inappropriate user content. This is done by restricting the posting of new information by 3rd party users in accordance with a subject-user profile and consent.
In another, U.S. pending patent application 2011/0,137,932 published Jun. 9, 2011 to Wable, the applicant seeks to enhance the relevancy of search results by restricting the search response based upon information about the user retained by the system. The applicant discusses background as follows:
Social networking systems allow users to designate other users as friends (or otherwise connect to or form relationships with other users), contribute and interact with media items, use applications, join groups, list and confirm attendance at events, create pages, and perform other tasks that facilitate social interaction. Social networking systems are a good example of the demand for systems that help users locate relevant information from within a large set of information tracked or otherwise used by the system.
Although it might be helpful to customize a search for a user's particular needs, many systems have little or no relevant information about the user who is searching for information, which makes locating information of particular relevance to a given user more challenging. But a social networking system typically tracks a considerable amount of information about each user, which can be leveraged to identify items of relevance to a given user. However, the query functionalities currently available on social networking systems do not fully leverage the information that the systems store. Nor do other systems use the information stored by social networking systems to improve the relevance of the data provided to their own users.
Yet another is depicted in US pending patent application 2011/0,137,844 published Jun. 9, 2011 to Miranda. In this application an attempt is made to increase relevancy by the use of ‘virtual cities’ which appear to be pre-allocated levels of expertise and knowledge in any particular field which then can be accessed by the user seeking relevant assistance. That system seeks to recognize the accomplishments of experts and memorialize these accomplishments. The applicant states:
A virtual technical networking architecture is disclosed that allows a user to locate resources, seek expertise and collaborate with identified experts located within a virtual city in order to mentor, teach and resolve problems or fill a need. The virtual city offers a gaming technology environment to users, wherein the experts are depicted as avatars within the virtual city and different levels of expertise and different affiliations or professions are identified by different avatar accessories. The virtual city allows for the knowledge management of a wide variety of sources categorized into common areas of interest. Thus, the virtual city connects people and transfers knowledge remotely in an on-demand environment. Accordingly, an entire virtual city of experts in a wide variety of fields can be built, that brings large groups of people and resources together for intellectual capital and knowledge management. The virtual city can then be used to educate, train and disseminate information, and can be specifically applied in an educational or career training environment.
Still another is shown in U.S. pending patent application 2011/0,093,506 published Apr. 21, 2011 to Lunt. In Lunt the relevance of a search result is sought to be enhanced by restricting the initial results based upon degrees of separation. Lunt states: